Girl in Pieces by Kathleen Glasgow

Charlotte Davis is just seventeen.  She's already lost more than most people do in a lifetime.  She is a Girl in Pieces.

This novel by Kathleen Glasgow tells Charlie's story in 3 parts.

Part one opens with her in a hospital, surrounded by other girls and women like her. Girls and women who harm themselves.  The chapters are short and erratic, much like Charlie's thoughts.

She's covered and bandages and she doesn't talk.  Her thoughts often go back to the dark place she almost didn't get out of alive,  but she feels safe.  She never wants to leave.

The second part finds Charlie out of the hospital, much to her dismay.  She travels very far away searching for a new life, different from her old life.

She reconnects with an old friend, who seems good for her.  And finds a new friend, who seems very bad fo her.

Her life is different than before the hospital but threatens to fall into the same old patterns.  She fights her self-destructive thoughts and struggles to move onward and upward.

When someone from her past comes to visit her, things start to fall apart farther and faster.  He life is in pieces again.

Part 3 is all about healing.  The events in part two of the novel have her in a safe place again, with perhaps a kindred spirit.  But she'll have to leave again.  And what happens when she's back in the world.

I enjoyed this read.  I was easily sucked into Charlie's life.  You can feel her fear and her pain very clearly.  You go from cheering her on to hating her for not being able to see the bad decisions she's making.

Self-mutilation is the theme of this novel, so I would not recommend it for someone who might be triggered by reading it.

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Girl in Pieces by Kathleen Glasgow is available on Amazon in kindle, hardcover and paperback editions.

Don't have a Kindle?  Download the Free Kindle App available on most devices.



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I received a copy of this novel free from Blogging for Books, but all thoughts and opinions on it are my own.

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Extraordinary Ordinary Moments: A Journal

Extraordinary Ordinary Moments is
available on Amazon.

Extraordinary Ordinary Moments is a guided journal by Jorey Hurley.

At 368 pages long, this journal will last you well over a year, and that is only if you do each prompt only once.

Each page has a prompt, thought or idea typed in a small font, along with a very simple illustration that adds a visiual idea without being obtrusive.

The orange peel on the cover is a very good example of the content inside of the book.

This journal would make an especially good gift for people who like to make lists.  The mostly blank pages also lend themselves well to gluing in photographs of your own, or magazine images to fit the idea.

Using this book daily would be a good practice in mindfulness.

Instead of working from front to back, you should open it to any random page, and look at the idea.

Example:

something that flies

or

something you learned to love

Then think about it.  REALLY think about it.  Be creative about it, or just observe the spot you are sitting and and see how many things in that one place fit the prompt.

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Extraordinary Ordinary Moments: A Joural by Jorey Hurley is available on Amazon in paperback.

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I received a copy of this journal free from Blogging for Books, but all thoughts and opinions on it are my own.

Black Feathers Dark Avian Tales: An Anthology

Black Feathers is a short story collection, each tale inside centering around birds.

As the collections editor, Ellen Datlow, says in her introduction: "Birds are usually loved for their beauty and their song." But that is not the case in this collection of avian tales.

There are 16 short tales in Black Feathers, each of them giving you a peek at the "dark side to the avian."  Most of the birds in the stories are corvids, which is the family of birds that include ravens, crows and even Jays.

In this collection, you will find people who can turn into birds.  There are birds who help solve crimes and birds who sneak their own young into a human family.

Admittedly a couple of the tales left me confused, but I did enjoy the majority of the collection.  Some of my favorite stories include  

The Mathematical Inevitability of Corvids by Seanan McGuire in which a young autistic girl must count crows each day because the number tells her important futures, and if the numbers are wrong bad things can happen.

Pigeon From Hell by Stephen Graham Jones, in which a young girl finds herself being haunted by a young boys pet pigeon after a horrible accident.

The Crow Palace by Priya Sharma, in which a young woman finds herself back home with her sister after her father passes.  She finds out after all these years that one of them does not really belong in the family.

I recommend this collection to anyone who likes a good scary story, and who is a fan of birds.  It might make you look at our feathered friends a little differently.

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Black Feathers Dark Avian Tales: An Anthology will be available in February of 2017.  You can pre-order your copy today from amazon in Kindle or Hardcover.

Don't have a Kindle?  Download the Free Kindle App available on most devices.


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I received an advance readers copy of Black Feathers from NetGally in exchange for an honest review.  All thoughts on this item are my own.

Have a Lazy Crafternoon

Have you ever wanted to get together and do crafts with a group of friends?  You all like to craft and think it will be fun to do it together.

Perhaps you gather around Pinterest trying to find the perfect thing to do. Together you look for something that is not too hard, something that doesn't take too many fancy tools, something that crafters of any skill level can do.

Before you know it the afternoon is over and you haven't found a craft that is just right.  The party breaks up with no crafts having been done.

Then you should get a copy of Lazy Crafternoon by Stella Fields.

This book brings you a selection of over 50 crafts.  Each craft is simple enough for a beginning crafter to do with no problem, but they all leave room for a more experienced crafter to add their touch.

You will learn how to make accessories such as jewelry or decor for your electronics.  There is a section on home decorations, how to make your study supplies more fun and even a chapter on how to make foods.

It would be easy to make your own party refreshments from the fun projects in Lazy Crafternoon.

Each project has a colorful example and simply written easy to follow instructions.

The whole book is full of bright and fun images.  It is as fun to look at as it is to do the crafts inside!  The Faux stained glass to the left, and the confetti balloon below are just two examples of the colorful images, and a couple of the crafts that Lazy Crafternoon can teach you to make.

The front of the book is helpful in that it gives you a list of the supplies most commonly used in the projects so you can be sure to have them on hand before your crafternoon starts.  You are also given the prices of some of the items, most of which you can get for less than $10!

Some of the crafts, while also being inexpensive, can be made quickly so you can do several crafts in one Crafternoon.

For example, I made a an envelope using the easy instructions in the book, and it took maybe 15 minutes at the most and that counts finding the paper to make the project with.

I give this craft book a 5-star rating for being fun to look at, having simple projects and easy to read and follow directions.

I recommend getting a copy and hosting your own Lazy Crafternoon.

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Lazy Crafternoon is available on Amazon in both Kindle or Paperback.

Don't have a Kindle?  Download the Free Kindle App available on most devices.


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I received a copy of Lazy Crafternoon from NetGally in exchange for an honest review.  All thoughts on this item are my own.

Used Bookstore Haul (with video) - September 2016

My husband and I adore used book stores.  Sadly they are hard to find in this day and age, and most of them that pop up are devoured by Barnes and Nobel.

Yesterday we learned that our current used book fave, Wiley's Book Exchange, is closing its doors in December.  Today we decided to make another visit before they were gone.

Sorry for the blur.  My phone has horrid
low light shooting, and my husband
randomly entered the scene.

It had been a couple of months since we were last in, we've not had a lot of extra book money.  And the place looked a little unkempt from the last time I was there.  It was darker than usual, several overhead lights had gone out.  Some Christmas lights had been strung from the ceiling to help.

Since the shelves are all black (a choice I have always questioned) that made it even darker than usual there.

The shelves were still full, but a little messier than last time we were in.

I think we were the only people there other than two people working.  (Which is probably why they are going out of business.)

This is where I've gotten most of my Janet Evonavich novels, and where hubby got a lot of his Clive Cussler books.  He went in without a plan today.  I went in with my yellow folder which is books that I want to have but don't have.  Mostly Dean Koontz novels, and the rest of the Evanovich novels.

Hubby got a Lone Ranger little golden book, a Star Wars comic book, and 2 Star Trek novels.

They didn't have many of the books on my lists, but I did come out with a small stack.

I only brought home 5 books.  I found TONS more that I would have liked to have gotten, but we are still on a teeny tiny budget, so I had to be a little choosy.

Keep reading here for the titles that I picked out and why.  At the end of the entry is a VIDEO of me reading the back cover copy of each book if you want to know what they are actually about.

As far as Janet Evanovich goes, they didn't have Four to Score which is the only early one I was missing.  They also didn't have Explosive Eighteen.  But They did have Takedown Twenty, so I got at least one more By the Numbers book in my collection.  They also had one of her early romances, originally written under the name Steffie Hall. Normally I don't like romance novels, but Evanovich's characters always make me laugh out loud.  I didn't have Hero at Large, so I grabbed it.

Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen was one of those books I just happened to see on the shelf, and had one of those "I didn't know this was a BOOK!" moments.  I've seen and loved the movie, so of course I grabbed the book.  Because the books are always so much better than the movie, right?  We'll see.

Don't judge a book by its cover, they say.  But the only reason I grabbed Goth Girl Rising off the shelf was because of this spooky blue and white face glaring out at me.  The cover text sounded interesting enough to keep it.  If the book sucks I can always frame the cover.

And this sassy redhead was on the shelf beside Goth Girl Rising.  She looked like she was DARING me to buy her.  Her and her fancy cat.  I almost put Would-Be Witch back becaue at $6 it was the most expensive book in my stack.  But I'm in the process of writing a witchy novel of my own.  So this would be counted as research, right?  Maybe it'll be good enough to account for the smirk on her face.

Now, if you want to know what each of these lovely covers is actually about, watch my video below:

Ghosts from Our Past - The Paranormal Book from Ghostbusters (2016)

This is the paranormal text written
by Abby and Erin in the
2016 Ghostbusters movie.

By now most everyone is aware that the classic Ghostbuster's has been remade, using an entirely female cast.

In this re-make a "real" scientist feels threatened when a book from her past re-surfaces and her job is put at risk. 

Ghosts from Our Past: Both Literally and Figuratively: The Study of the Paranormal is the book, straight out of the movie.  Only this version has been "updated" to include knowledge from the newest members of the team, Patty, holtzman and Andrew.

Ghosts from Our Past reads like a non-ficion novel.

First it gives you a look into Erin and Abby's childhood, and how they became enamored with the paranormal.

It goes into the history of ghosts and ghost hunting.

There is an interesting chapter on the different classes of Ghosts you might encounter, and more.

Since the Ghostbusters movie is a comedy, and this book was a thing to be made fun of in the movie, it has a few tongue in cheek moments of humor despite being written like a serious text.  It was written like serious text written by two young women who are insane X-files fans.

If you're a fan of the new Ghostbusters movie I would recommend this book to be part of your collection.

If you're looking for a serious history of ghost hunting, or real ghost stories, this is not a book for you.

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Ghost From Our Past is available in Kindle, Paperback, Hardcover and Audible eidtions on Amazon.

Don't have a Kindle?  Download the Free Kindle App available on most devices.
Don't have Audible?  Try Audible Now and Get Two Free Audiobooks


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I received a copy of this novel free from Blogging for Books, but all thoughts and opinions on it are my own. 

The Haunting of Josie

Josie Douglas wanted to isolate herself in a country cottage.  She had her research, and her alibi (taking time off of her teaching job to write a book) and was ready to unravel the truth behind the tragedy that tore her life apart as a child.

She didn't expect the cottage to come with a cat.  She also didn't expcet the property owner, the stunningly handsome Marc Westbrook, to live within shouting distance of her "isolated" cabin.  She is already distracted, and wondering how she is ever going to get the work done that she came to do when the unthinkable happened.

Turns out that along with the cat, and the romance, her cabin comes equipped with a ghost as well (though Marc assures her it has NEVER been haunted before.)

Now instead of unraveling her tragic past, Josie is working with Marc to find out why the ghost appeared now, and to her.  And she also has to decide if she is willing to let Mar Westbrook close enough to her to share with him her deepest, darkest secrets.

The Haunting of Josie by Kay Hooper is a Paranormal Romance, but is a little light on the paranormal in my opinion.

I also wish the cat, Pendragon, who bookends this story had played a bigger part in the action of the tale.  Mysteries are just better with a cat (or dog) helping out.

Overall it was an interesting read.  At first I read mostly to know what Josie's secret was (because we as readers don't even know!) and kept reading to find out why Josie was being haunted.

I didn't like the usual "I'm in love with him but I don't want to be in love with him so I'm going to pretend I don't love him" repetitiveness that all romance novels seem to have.

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The Haunting of Josie is available on amazon in Kindle, Paperback, Hardcover, and Audible.

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Notes From the Concierge Desk

How May We Help Hate You? 

In many hotels you will find a Concierge.  The Concierge is there to help you do important things in the city you are visiting.  They help you call cabs, tell you where to find the best meals and even help get you tickets to local tours and shows.

The Concierge is there to help.  However, like many people who work in the customer service industry, the Concierge is also sometimes overused and abused, or simply amused by the people the help on a daily basis.

Anna Drezen and Todd Dakotah Briscoe, the co-authors of How May We Help Hate You started first as bloggers on tumblr.  After the tumblr receive some press and some love, and some hate, they decided to make a book out of the same source matrial.  That material, of course, being their jobs as hotel concierges.

The book itself is NICE.  It has a heavy faux leather and gold gilded cover.  It i reminiscent of the per-computer aged hotel guestbooks.  The golden "Help" has been crossed out and graffiti-ed over with a white "HATE" on the cover.

Inside is a mixture of content.  Some helpful, but mostly humorous, it gives you a look at what life is like on the other side of the Concierge desk.

They have odd customer dialog.  Give character descriptions of certain types of guests, and even have a couple of fun pictures such as one where you are supposed to find all the ghosts hiding in a photo of a hotel room.

But its not all guest related.  Towards the end they have shared some snark about co-workers as well.

I started off giggling at the customer conversations.  Since I also work in a customer service job I know how hard it can be to do your job right and properly with some people being very difficult.

I will say this book is best read in little bites here or there.  A coffee table or bathroom buddy book.  If you sit and try to read it cover to cover the humor begins to fall flat.

You should read this book if you've ever worked customer service.
You should NOT read this book if you don't understand why customer service employees need to vent for time to time.

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How May We Hate You? is available on amazon in Kindle, Hardcover, and Audible.

Don't have a Kindle?  Download the Free Kindle App available on most devices.
Don't have Audible?  Try Audible Now and Get Two Free Audiobooks

--

Love to read?  Come Join the Facebook Group: Lets Talk about Books
It is a casual place to discuss books and reading in general.

--

I received a copy of this novel free from Blogging for Books, but all thoughts and opinions on it are my own. 

You Just Want Me To Open The Trunk? - Random Book Quote

"Yes, I want you to open the trunk.  How would you like to be trapped in there with a dead guy?"

--Bite by Richard Laymon

"If you've missed Laymon, you've missed a treat."
--Stephen King

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"Random Book Quotes" is a (semi)-Daily feature on this blog (Starting 7-14-16) in which I pick up the book(s) I'm currently reading and pick a random sentence or paragraph to quote for your enjoyment.  It might be meaningful.  It might be mundane.  Taken out of context it might be hilarious.

There is no real point to it except for entrainment (and keeping this blog going even when I'm reading slow and between reviews).  

Enjoy!

The Invoice

What is your life worth?  Not just the material things, and how much money you have in the bank, but your life itself?  How much would you pay for happiness and contentment?  How much should you be refunded for anxiety and pain?

In the novel, The Invoice, by Jonas Karlsson, our main character (who remains nameless) receives an invoice that is worth roughly $670,000 (according to the online conversion calculator I used, as the amount in the book is in Swedish currency 5,700,000 kronor.)

Having never spent that much money in his life, thinking he has mistakenly gotten someone elses bill for something, he tosses it aside and forgets about it.  Until he receives another one.  With interest.

After some attempts he gets through to a customer service agent and finds out that the time has come for everyone to pay for their life experiences, because they can't keep paying for everyones experiences for nothing can they?

(It was never made clear why people have to pay for their life experiences or how the state was footing the bill for peoples happiness to begin with.)

Our MC starts calling his customer service rep at all hours, trying to figure out why he owes so much.  He feels he has lived a very normal, very boring, very inexpensive life.

Of course he starts to realize how happy he really is in his life, and how all the little things (like his job at a video store, or his MC Escher poster) really do lead to great happiness.

He also realizes he can never pay his debt off, and wonders what is going to happen to him.

This is NOT an action filled novel.  Pretty much nothing happens in this novel aside from him going to work or talking on the phone.

It is supposed to make you think about your own life.  To make you look at the little things, like the sunset, the flowers, the feel of sun on your shoulders, and realize that every little experience is worth more than you think.


The Invoice will be available on amazon in Kindle, Hardcover, and audio starting on July 12, 2016.

Don't have a Kindle?  Download the Free Kindle App available on most devices.

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I received a copy of this novel free from Blogging for Books, but all thoughts and opinions on it are my own. 

Living with Intent

LIVING WITH INTENT
My Somewhat Messy Journey to Purpose, Peace and Joy

In the past year of my life, I've thought a lot of Mindfulness.  Fighting depression and anxiety without using medications is a challenge, and most things I've read about Mindefulness says that learning to live more in the moment (and sending out more positive vibes into the world) can help.

So, when I got a chance to read Living with Intent I jumped at it.  The subtitle of "My Somewhat Messy Journey to Purpose, Peace and Joy" appealed to me.

Now, I read non-fiction books much slower than I do fictional ones, no matter how interesting I find the subject matter, so this one took me a little bit of time to get through.  I think next time I read it I'll go through with a highlighter, because I forgot to make marks on what resounded with me.

One thing I really enjoyed about this book is that it was a self help book, written by someone who DIDN'T have all the answers.

Mallika Chopra never said, "My life is perfect, and if you do things this way your life can be perfet to."

In fact it was often the opposite.  She pointed out all the ways that her life WASN'T perfect, which is why she wanted to focus on living with Intent, so that she could put what was most important to her in the forefront.

Even while writing this book she struggled to follow the path of Intent she laid out.  But as she did practice it, she learned things. She also spoke with various people who are living their lives seemingly in bliss. And what she learned she shared with us by writing Living with Intent

WHAT IS INTENT

In Living with Intent, Mallika Chopra lays the definition of Intent out as this:

I - Incubate
N- Notice
T - Trust
E - Express
N - Nuture
T - Take Action

She has a full chapter on each step, telling how you can apply each step of intent to your life, and how she has applied it to hers.

There is an Afterwards written by the authors father, Deepak Chopra as well as pages at the end of the book for you to Express your intent in writing.

MALLIKA CHOPRA

The author of this book, Mallika Chopra, is the daughter of Deepak Chopra.  She has written two other books, 100 Promises to My Baby, and 100 Questions from My Child.

She is also the founder of Intent.com where you can share your Intents with the world, and gather support and encouragement.

BUY IT

Living with Intent is available on amazon in Kindle, Hardcover, paperback and Audible.

Don't have a Kindle?  Download the Free Kindle App available on most devices.
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I received a copy of this novel free from Blogging for Books, but all thoughts and opinions on it are my own. 

At the End of the Road - Review

Not all "Coming of Age" novels are full of grand adventure and happy endings.

In At the End of the Road, Grant Jerkins introduces us to Kyle, who is only 10 years old.  Set in rural Georgia in 1976, it tells the story of one summer in Kyles life.

It is a summer full of excitement, following his older brothers and butting heads with ill tempered bulls and equally ill tempered bullies.

It is a summer of discovering familial love.  The love of older brothers who love him but really don't want to --be bothered.  The love of a younger sister who idolizes and wants to please him.

It is also a summer full of horror and dangerous secrets.  Kyle's life, and the life of his younger sister, are changed dramatically that summer when, while riding his bike on a seldom used dirt road, he accidentally causes and accident.

Being 10, and being afraid, he leaves the scene.  Only to find the injured woman and her wrecked car have mysteriously disappeared.

Then after a fire that burns several acres of forest, Kyle finds himself under the control of one of their neighbors.  A man they have seen every day, but is more of a monster than anyone would have ever guessed.

The events that transpire that summer certainly usher Kyle out of boyhood, but certainly not in a gentle and fun filled way.

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This book is dark.  VERY dark.  This book lacks any humor or light moments. Even the "good" parts of the books are only happy in a sad way.

It can also be disjointed.  Mostly you are seeing things from Kyles POV.  But you do sometimes change to the POV of a character we know for most of the novel as "The Reticulated Woman."

You also find yourself bouncing in and out of flashbacks so you might not be sure where you are in the timeline 100% of the time.

All that aside, I could not put this book down.  I wanted to know what the outcome was for Kyle and his sister.  I wanted to see if anyone (his clueless parents, the intrepid police officer, his MIA older brothers) would rescue him from the horror he found himself trapped in.  Or if maybe he would "come clean" expose his secrets and rescue himself.

I would being lying if I said that everyone lived happily ever after, but I would recommend this book to anyone who likes a dark tale.

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At the End of the Road was the 24th book I read in 2016.  See the rest of my 2016 book list here.

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At the End of the Road is available on amazon in Kindle and paperback editions.


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Aftertime by Sophie Littlefield

When Cass Dollar wakes up, she knows it is summer.  But she doesn't remember exactly what happened to her, how she got where she was.  Most imporantly she knew that Ruthie was missing, and she had to get back to Ruthie.

Cass lives in "Aftertime" which is a post-apocalyptic world.  This is a zombie novel, but the zombies are called "beaters" in this one, and we get a small peek into their origin.

Unlike most stories of this type that drop you in the story with little to no explanation, as the novel unfolds and Cass journeys to find her missing daughter, we find out more and more about how the world became the way it is.

Cass ends up getting help from various  groups of survivors, despite having been a loner all of her life.  She finds herself traveling with a man named Smoke, who is one of the few people in Aftertime who knows the secret that Cass is trying to keep from everyone.

Smoke sticks with Cass despite her dangerous secret, and her nearly kamikaze need to get to Ruthie.  This gets them both in serious trouble when they run into the Rebuilders, who know Smoke and have no love for him.

I enjoyed this novel.  I liked the characters and the setting, the civilization that has come to pass after the downfall.  I would have preferred more action with the Beaters, but most Zombie novels focus on the human element more than the "monsters."

However, I was disappointed to find out this was the first book in a series of books.  It was followed by Rebirth then Horizon.

I will see if my library has the next two books, but I would have preferred it to be a stand alone novel.

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Aftertime was the 12th book I read in 2016.  See the rest of my 2016 book list here.

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You can purchse Aftertime on Amazon in Kindle, Paperback, Mass Market Paperback or MP3 CD

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Bad Monkey

Andrew Yancy has lost his appetite for resturant food, and would really like to be rescued from his job on "Roach Patrol."  Being a Health Inspector is not a lush gig, which explains why Yancy has a human arm in his freezer.

Sort of.

Yancy thinks that if he can prove this "boating accident" was really a murder, then he would be forgiven a random act of violence and reinstated to the Monroe County sheriffs office.

Unfortunately for Andrew Yancy things, as usual for a Hiaasen novel, begin to go amusingly wrong for him.

This story takes you from Miami to the Bahamas and includes a cast of characters including a voodoo witch, a kinky coroner and, yes, even a Bad Monkey that is the novels namesake.

My favorite part of this novel was actually the sub-plot.  A real-estate agent has optimistically built an eyesore of a building beside Yancy's home.  Driving off the deer that used to feed there and blocking his sunset.

And for some reason that agent is having the devils own time finding a buyer for that home.  It seems to be cursed with bad luck.

Wreck and Order

After I had been reading Wreck and Order for many, many days I realized I was only about a third of the way thought it.

I also realized I would not make it all the way through this novel.

First, I loathed the main character.  She was the dictionary definition of the "poor little rich girl."  She doesn't have to work because her dad casually drops her checks for thousands of dollars at a time.  She's not happy in the relationship she's in, so she travels to places like Sri Lanka in hopes to "get over" a man.

I think the point was that she was looking for, and unable to find, emotional fulfillment, but all I got from it is "the sex isn't good enough."

And there is quite a bit of sex in this novel.  Elsie, (our main character) is very casual with sex, even though she seems to be looking for some emotional meaning.  Most of her sexual encounters seems to end with her being annoyed or angry that she didn't climax.

When she found herself becoming too comfortable in a relationship she did things to sabotage it, and then threw herself a little pitty party when it came (seemingly) to an end.

That  is when I decided to give up on this book.  (somewhere around page 107 of a 290 page novel)

I didn't hate this novel the same way I did A Girl is a Half Formed Thing.  I could possibly pick it up again in the future, picking up where I left off, or starting fresh from the beginning.  But for now, I've just got to move on to the next book in my to be read pile.

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Wreck and Order is available on amazon in Kindle, Hardcover, Audible and MP3 CD.

Don't have a Kindle?  Download the Free Kindle App available on most devices.
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Love to read?  Come Join the Facebook Group: Lets Talk about Books
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I received a copy of this novel free from Blogging for Books, but all thoughts and opinions on it are my own.

Summer Secrets

A compelling story of a woman
struggling with addiction
and seeking forgiveness"
--Booklist

To an outsider it would appear that Cat Coombs is living a glamorous life as a journalist.  But she has a problem.  She feels like she doesn't fit in, and since she was a teen has been turning to alcohol to make her feel like he belongs.

Cat is an alcoholic.

One morning she feels she has had enough, and tells her mother she wants/needs help.

That is when her mother drops a bombshell on her that will change her life forever, in more ways than one.

Summer Secrets by Jane Green takes place in London, where Cat lives, and during summers in Nantucket.

While everyone in Summer Secrets loves the American island, it also harbors many secrets.

This novel follows Cat from her 20s, as a party girl, to her 40s, as a divorced mom of one, still trying to find her place in life.  There are flashback to her teens and childhood, and even a flashback or two before she was born.

This novel centers around Cat's alcoholism, and how it effects her life.  How she battles it and how it continues to affect her life even once she is sober.

This novel is also about family, and about love. It is about the bonds of family, about love found and lost.  Its about distrust and grudges, but it is also about friendship and forgiveness.

 I did enjoy this novel and finished it in just a few days.

There were a couple of jumps in time that threw me off.  There were parts of Cat's life I would like to have seen more detail of, but I guess that wasn't what this book was really about.

I would like to see a second book with the characters who LIVE in Nantucket as the central characters.  I think that would be interesting.

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You can purchase Summer Secrets by Jane Green at Amazon in hardcover, paperback, kindle and audio versions.


Don't have a Kindle?  Download the Free Kindle App available on most devices.
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365 Inspirational Quotes - Review

Available on Amazon as a paperback
or a kindle book.

This 5x7 collection of quotes is a hefty little paperback book, and it should be since it is packed with 366 quotes. (The cover says 365, but they did include one for Feb. 29th, making it 366)  It is over an inch thick.

The title, 365 Inspirational Quotes: A Year of Daily Wisdom from Great Thinkers, Books, Humorists, and More   promises inspirational quotes, and it starts off with a bang on Jan. 1. "This is where it all begins.  Everything starts here, today."

I have not read all of the quotes in this book, but I did read through January to catch up.  I have opened a page here and a page there as well (because you KNOW I had to go see what my birthday quote would be)

Not all of them are "inspirational" to me for example, January 3rd was "If life is a bowl of cherries, what's inside of it?"  I don't see inspiration in that one (because there is nothing but pits in a cherry, so life is the pits? but I guess they must have all inspired the collector to some degree.

The book itself is fun to flip through though.  The quotes are not just black font on white pages.  They have different fonts, different colors.  Each month has its own main color (red, purple, green, blue, orange)

The only negative thing I have to say about this book involves the cover.  It feels waxy and is somewhat unpleasant to hold in my hands for a long time.

Other than that, this book gives you what it promises on the front, 365 (366) quotes to (hopefully) inspire you.

(I received this book free in exchange for my honest review)

Instant Happy Journal Review

 The Instant Happy Journal came into my life at a very inopportune time.

It arrived on January 7th, shorty after our elderly cat had been mauled to death in the street by a stray dog.

So, when I un-boxed my "Instant Happy Journal" I felt a bit of life's cruel irony, and set it aside for several days without even cracking the cover.

When enough time had passed I picked up the small book (its just short of being a 5x7 tome).

A page at the front of the journal says the book's mission is "to help you to live your happiest life"

The creator, Karen Salmansohn, calls her prompts "happiness prompters" and they are a mixture of motivational quotes, thought provoking questions, philosophical thoughts and more.  They are meant to inspire you to focus on where the most joy can be found in your life.

The book is colorful.  Many of the pages have a colored border.  Red, orange, blue, green, stripes, polkadots.  Each page is a colorful splash of joy in itself.  At the top of each page is a date line for you to fill in the date you answer the question.  (we all know the frustration of buying a 365 journal with pre-printed dates, forcing you to start at the front, on January 1st and work straight to the back.)

Under the date line is the prompt of the  day.  It might be a simple question such as "What made you laugh today?"  Or, it could be the results of a scientific study, followed by a prompt or related question.  There are prompts that are simple quotes and no more such as "Before a brilliant person does something great they must be willing to look foolish in the crowd." And there are even prompts asking you to draw/doodle something.

Under each prompt is a few lines for you to answer the prompt.  Depending on how long the prompt is you might have 8 to 12 lines to answer it on.

There is also an attached ribbon bookmark.  It will help you keep up with where you left off if you work front to back, or mark the spot of the prompt you'd like to answer next.

If you are a wordy writer, such as myself, you might want to pair your Instant Happy Journal with a second lined journal or notebook to answer your prompts in.  Such as this bright and happy (and customizable) pocket journal from zazzle.

Happy White Daisies Pattern Journal by LisaMarieDesign
Browse Flower pattern Journals

If you use your Instant Happy Journal consistently for 365 days and can see it helping you.  I don't think there is a such thing as "Instant" happiness, but the prompts inside this journal will help you learn how to look at the brighter side of things

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You can purchase Instant Happy Journal: 365 Days of Inspiration, Gratitude, and Joy, from Amazon.

 
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If you like to read, come talk about books with us at the facebook group Lets Talk About Books.

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I received this book from the Blogging for Books program in exchange for this review.  All thoughts and opinions are my own.

They All Fall Down

Girls will do anything to be on this list.
Even Die.

There is a tradition at Vienna High that has reached its thirtieth year.  It is"The List."

Each year "The Hottie List" comes out, and this year Kenzie Summerall is shocked to find that she is on the list.  She is number 5.

Her best friend, Holly, is excited.  She says being on the list will change her life, and that they will BOTH be more popular.

This year things are a little different though.  This year the girls on the list all seem to be having accidents.  Even Kenzie, who manages to survive a few close calls.

But one by one the girls on the list are dying, in order.  And Kenzie is NUMBER FIVE!

While the rest of the List Sisters are sure that there is a curse on the list, Kenzie doesn't beleive in curses.  She starts her own investigation, despite the other girls telling her that will only lead to her death happening even quicker.

Who really creates this list?  What is its real purpose?  Can Kenzie stop the deaths before it is her turn?

They All Fall Down is a Teen thriller, and was quite a page turner.

While some of the elements of the story are cliche (Such as Kenzie suddently having to choose between two guys who had never spoken to her before The List came out) it was still a good story.

The ending was a surprise that I had never seen coming, and once I hit the climax I could not put the book down until I finished it.

I give this one 5 out of 5 stars.
I recommend this one to anyone who likes to read YA fiction, YA thrillers, or stories about girls suddenly rising in popularity.

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You can purchase They All Fall Down from Amazon, in hardcover or kindle.

Don't have a Kindle?  Download the Free Kindle App available on most devices.

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If you like to read, come talk about books with us at the facebook group Lets Talk About Books.

Seeders by A. J. Colucci - Novel Review

Isabelle finds out that her father, the reclusive biologist George Brookes has died, and she is mentioned in his will.  But she has to visit his remote Canadian island in order to attend the reading of the will.

Not only does she go, against the will of her overbearing husband, but she takes her two sons, and a random teenage girl along.

Once ariving she finds out she's not the only one on the island.

For a couple of weeks she will be staying on the island with an old lover of her father's  as well as one of his students.

Jules Beeches, also a plant scientist, finds out that Dr. Brookes had been making great strides in plant biological study.  In fact, he might have found a way to COMMUNICATE with plants.

Jules become obsessed with the journal George Brookes left behind, while Isabelle is beginning to think that there might be something much more sinister on the island and the teenagers run around doing the things that teenagers do on isolated islands in horror novels.

My Thoughts

(possible spoilers, proceed with caution)

The cover of Seeders promised the book to be "Gripping and Brilliantly original." (Douglas Preston)

I did find it gripping, other than when Jules would go into scientific talk.  But I didn't find it that original.

As far as seemingly intelligent hostile plants go I think I prefer Scott Smith's "The Ruins" and it even at times brought to mind Shyamalan's movie The Happening.

As the boat left our little group on the spooky deserted island, I was thinking, "Well, Scooby and Shaggy should show up any moment."

I was disapointed in our protaganist.  For a supposedly smart woman she went though much of the novel acting very stupid.  I kept expecting some kind of growth from her, but there really was none.

The secondary characters of Ginny and Monica were pointless.  Well, not entirely pointless.  Monica (a teenage girl that Isabelle's husband had invited to live with them after her prostitute mother was arrested) had to come along or else the elder son would not have anyone to fall in love with.

However, while being somewhat generic in plot, I was still brought into the story.  I kept reading it, thinking that the island plants might somehow "cure" Isabelle's youngest son, who LOVED plants and seemed to be autistic (though his mental problems came after he fell out of a tree when he was younger.)

I also wanted to find out the truth.  Was George Brookes a drug addled mad scientist.  Did he really find a way to communicated with plants?  What is up with all the fungus on the island?

So, I did rate this novel 4 out of 5 stars because I was fully entertained when reading it, though I did see some plot twists coming from miles away.

I would recommend this novel for anyone wanting an entertaining read, but not for someone who is looking for a novel in the intelligence range of Crichton.

You can purchase Seeders  from Amazon, inhardcover or kindle, or you can listen to it FREE with audible.

Don't have a Kindle?  Download the Free Kindle App available on most devices.
Don't have Audible?  Try Audible Now and Get Two Free Audiobooks
About the Author

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The Marauders by Tom Cooper

The Louisiana town of Jeanette has been devastated by a oil spill.  The shrimpers in particular are having a rough time.  Not even the locals want to eat the tained shrimp.

Brady Grimes, who grew up in the town, has returned to try to gloss over the situation for BP.

Wes Trench, who only wants his own shrimp boat, finds himself teaming up with Gus Lindquist in search of a lost treasure.

The treasure hunt brings them unknowingly too close to the hidden dope fields of Reginald and Victor Toup, twin drug lords who are not above killing to protect their territory.

Then there is Cosgrove and Hanson who are looking for the Toup's magical Marajauna for themselves.

As you can tell there are A LOT of characters in this novel, though Wes is probably the most central character, as the story begins and ends with them.

This novel changes POV throughout the whole book, bouncing from character to character and back again.  I don't really like this style of writing.  

Of all the characters, the BP middle man seemed to serve no point to further the plot.

I was more interested in Lindquist and his search for Jean Lafitte's treasure than any of the other stories in this novel.  It was his search that kept me reading through the whole thing.

I would give this novel 3 out of 5 stars.  I didn't hate it, but I doubt I'll read it again.

This is the authors first novel, but Tom Cooper has been published in dozens of literary magazines and journals, most recently in Oxford American, Mid-American Review, Gulf Coast, Boulevard, and Willow Springs. His stories have been nominated four times for the Pushcart Prize. He lives in New Orleans.

You can purchase The Marauders: A Novel from Amazon, in paperback, hardcover or kindle, or you can listen to it FREE with audible.

Don't have a Kindle?  Download the Free Kindle App available on most devices.
Don't have Audible?  Try Audible Now and Get Two Free Audiobooks
About the Author

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If you like to read, come talk about books with us at the facebook group Lets Talk About Books.

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I received this book from the Blogging for Books program in exchange for this review.  All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Library Haul (1/2/16)

We went to the library today!

Between my husband and myself we managed to leave with 38 items.  Some were mine, some were his, some were for the kids.

I'll share what I took out for me and the boys.

1. Where's the Dragon 

2.  Albert the Fix It Man

3.  Teachers Pets

4.  The Three Triceratops Tuff 

1.  Growing Vegetable Soup (a board book)
2.  Olivia: A Special Day with Dad

3. The Perfect Clubhouse (my 6 year old picked this one out)
4.  Happy Valentine's Day Curious George

Now, for what I grabbed:

This book called "Simple Times: Crafts for Poor People" was sitting on the end of an aisle just screaming out at me.  Because .. well .. Crafts for poor people.

The rest of what I grabbed today:

1.  They All Fall Down
2.  Timbuktu

3.  What Can(t) Wait

4. Summer Secrets

5.  This Isn't the Sort of thing that happens to someone like you.

6.  Seeders

So those, along with my christmas books (The Walking Dead Descent, To Kill a Mockingbird, and Go Set a Watchman) will be my reading material for the first few weeks of the new year.

Come check back for my reviews of each book as I finish them.